Panasonic Q Gamecube damages gamecube discs?

[Shadow_Zero]

You think a good electronic store could fix it?
Sending it back to Hong Kong is way too much trouble...

On one side I can't be bothered really, but on the other side it hurts to see your discs getting beaten up so badly.
Though dvd's stay in perfectly fine shape...

[Shadow_Zero]

This was a problem with some of the early Us launch Dreamcasts and can be a problem with Ps2's which have been dropped or shaken violently.

With the Dreamcast,during the shipment to the US,the lasers were shaken and stuff and they ended up being too high,by that I mean the actual laser itself was too high and too close to the disc when it spun therefore scratching the GD roms.I have seen this when fixing Ps2's as well.The lasers have been knocked out of place and then they are also too high and started scratching the Cd's or Dvd's.Now what can be done if you take it to an authorised repairer or repairer of Pansonic Q's in general is they can adjust the laser height for you.Sometimes in shipping this can happen.If it is not that then there must be another fault causing the disc to be scratched by the laser and then you would need a replacement Pansonic Q.

So what would be an authorized repairer of Q's?
(in Holland, in Europe?).
I can send it back now to Play-Asia, but the shipping costs will be mine (not the return shipping costs though). If they can repair it, it will be free. Do they need material, I'll have to pay. Max will be $100, everything up that will be on their account.

I'm trying to have a look myself now in the Q, but opening the thing isn't that easy (all the screws are making me nuts lol). Any tips/suggestions for what I have to look out for?

Saur is helping me as he can via PM at the moment heh

[Robster]

The fact that its one sratch running straight down the disk means its most likely happens when the laser head moves up and down the disk reading it before it starts spinning up.

that explains my next question

[will2003]

I know EXCATLY what causes that fault.

My Q did just that to a boxfresh Mario Golf, so I opened it up and found the problem.

The hub that the discs sit on has a steel center ring, so it engages the magnetic clamp above when the tray closes. Panasonic / Nintendo in their infinite wisdom decided to make the center ring chrome plated for some mad reason. The chrome flakes away and sometimes sticks up in little shards - this is what is causing the straight across the disc scratches, just as a laser head can do.

The cure is to open the Q, strip down the drive at least as far as taking the whole top lock mech off, and carefully flake away the peeling chrome plate. I advise removing the drive completely from the Q, as little bits of flaky conductive chrome plating are definitely not something you want inside the Q - it's full of open ICs and that could cause havoc.

Drop me a PM if you'd like any more info on fixing this problem.

Regards,

Will.

[will2003]

Oh, and the reason DVDs get away without scratches is because they sit about 0.5mm higher in the tray than GC discs, so they just miss the raised chrome bits on the center ring.

Will.

[John Beaulieu]

if i send you my Q could you do this repair job on it? plus my Q still won't emit sound when in GC mode - saur told me he had sorted out a fix but i aint had the chance to send it down yet ... would this be possible to fix or not?

cheers

camps

[Shadow_Zero]

I know EXCATLY what causes that fault.

My Q did just that to a boxfresh Mario Golf, so I opened it up and found the problem.

The hub that the discs sit on has a steel center ring, so it engages the magnetic clamp above when the tray closes. Panasonic / Nintendo in their infinite wisdom decided to make the center ring chrome plated for some mad reason. The chrome flakes away and sometimes sticks up in little shards - this is what is causing the straight across the disc scratches, just as a laser head can do.

The cure is to open the Q, strip down the drive at least as far as taking the whole top lock mech off, and carefully flake away the peeling chrome plate. I advise removing the drive completely from the Q, as little bits of flaky conductive chrome plating are definitely not something you want inside the Q - it's full of open ICs and that could cause havoc.

Drop me a PM if you'd like any more info on fixing this problem.

Regards,

Will.

I found out about that problem myself today! Well, I didn't know for sure, but I had a hinch that was cause the problem. There was some chrome broken of and all, so it was suspicious to me. I had a lot of PM's today with Saur. He didn't think it was the spindle, but after reading your post (will) I think he'll understand.
I tried removing the chrome, but how do I remove ALL of it? It's magnetic, so hard to get off. I tried to get off as much as I can, but there are still miniscule bits on it I think...
So how do you mean to remove the drive completely exactly?

On the other hand, I spent all day working on the Q. It was a hell for me to open it and close it. Especially a certain (broad) flat cable which was very hard to get back in. I didn't want to disembark the front panel, but I really had to in order to get that flat cable back (God knows how long I tried to get it back with the front panel still on). I couldn't get the front panel of, but later I found out there were 2 screws on the bottom which the Gameboy Player covered, doh! Got some help from my dad, but it still was hell. Also the flat cable of the DV port is utterly annoying.

The results of a day Q working is that I found out about the problem all by myself (yay), but that now my Q doesn't work anymore!!!
When I plug the power in, nothing happens. Did I demolish it? Or is it some cable that's not right?

That flat cable I was talking about got quite a lot of pounding, to put it that way. I don't know how sensitive they are. God, those flat cables are annoying! So irritating flexible and not even 1 mm thick. Try to get that in a socket -_-;

Help would be appreciated. Though I've put a lot of energy in it today, which makes me feel kinda Q tired at the moment if you get what I mean.
Or should I just send it back to Play-Asia with some sort of explenation?

[Shadow_Zero]

Ok, my Q gets power now again.
But the tray opens very slowly (takes like 10 seconds before it opens). Also I can't switch between game and dvd mode when the machine is on, need to shut down and then select the desired mode.
Dvd's play fine now, but it doesn't read Gamecube discs.

Anyone got any ideas?

[UncleBob]

Klaatu... verata... Necktie! Rise from the grave, post!

Sorry to bump a nearly ten year old thread (I got permission!), but it appears I'm running into the same problem just now. I'm looking into getting it fixed (spoke with Will who "discovered" the problem and offered, but I'm in the US and he's in the UK...) and from talking to Will, I get the impression this isn't something I want to do myself as I have only the most basic of skills.

So - anyone else who's done this fix - advice for whomever I end up having to fix this? I'm going to have to send them to this thread for instructions.

[Jei]

I did the fix on my own back in the day....I actually found it very easy!

I'd also offer to do it but alas, am also in the UK